


A Brief (Revised) History of Literacy Among Elves

by erunyauve



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Pseudo-History, Years of the Trees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 03:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5319059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erunyauve/pseuds/erunyauve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bit of pseudo-history of Elven writing, particularly among the Mithrim.  The notion that that the colonialist Noldor brought all knowledge and learning to the backward Sindar always seemed a bit biased to me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Brief (Revised) History of Literacy Among Elves

**Year 20 of the Fourth Age, Imladris**

_As Eru Himself chose the first Elves to awaken, their descendants were divinely chosen to rule their people. Yet, does such a trust not oblige the chosen to rule in wisdom, and not in conceit? Our King will bear advice from no other, not from his handpicked council, not even from his queen._

_From the far north and at the Falas, in the wide lands to the west and in the shadowy trees of Ossiriand, we hear of peoples who make decisions by accord, of lords who rule only by consent. Are not all Elves capable of rational thought? Shall we submit to live in a cage, when we might walk free under the stars?_ \- Polemic circulated in Doriath

It is accepted that Elvish writing began with Rúmil, but this merely illustrates that a written history can be as inaccurate as an oral tradition. In truth, the Elves devised glyphs even at Cuiviénen, and the first to use them were not the Tatyar but the seafaring Lindar. As their craft-building improved, the Lindar began to map the Sea of Helcar and chart the stars. Symbols designated hidden rocks and sandbars lurking beneath the surface.

The early Elves soon expanded these symbols for other uses. A glyph might be etched on a tree to warn of ulgundî (monsters), and when an Elf disappeared, his or her kin would carve a stone in memory.

The Hadhodrim have recently embarked upon a series of historical excavations, seeking things buried in the upheavals of Arda. These excavations are most noted for discovery of the giant lizards that perished when the lamps were overturned, but Dwarven crews have also unearthed pictographs carved along the Great Journey.

The Minyar left markings to help those following.  Glyphs pointed the way to berries or nuts, or warned of a steep cliff. One set of symbols, found in an area that was once fenland, pairs the well-known glyph for danger with a unique pictograph that the members of the celebrated Fellowship would certainly recognise: a monstrous head with tentacle-like appendages.

An ancient Elf of Lindórinand recalls another carving, evidently made by one of the Minyar, warning of bees. A more enterprising Tatyarin Elf added the glyph for honey. By the time our Lindórinand Elf came upon the carvings, someone had crossed through the honey glyph. Below, he or she had drawn the glyph for bees - four times. Evidently, the honey was not worth the getting.

The glyph system was simple, however. It never advanced to the 'ideograph' stage of abstract concepts.

In Beleriand, written expression of thought waited upon the Cirth. With the invention of letters, any word that Elves knew or might invent could be represented in writing.

The oral lays were often composed to satisfy aesthetic and moral goals rather than to record history. Moreover, lays were subject to change, as circumstance might demand. Verses might be added, altered or omitted. The written word, on the other hand, remains an unflinching record, static regardless of time or political expediency. (This, of course, is a false notion - a writer can also alter the record to suit his purpose.) More important to this history is the advancement of education beyond rote memorisation to interpretation, from transmission of ancient knowledge to invention. The written word became the fuel of discourse, the spark of new ideas.

Although a small community of Elves had settled near Lake Mithrim during the search for Thingol, the greater part migrated later in revolt against Doriath. Of such kind were the mother of Annael, foster-father of Tuor, and Thórbel, grandfather of Gil-galad.

This was not well understood by the Noldor. Communication between the Mithrim and the Exiles was at first limited by language, and the Mithrim had become a besieged people, their lore eclipsed by more pressing needs of warfare and subsistence. Moreover, the Exiles, absorbed in their own quarrels, paid little mind to the affairs of the Sindar, and in fact made little effort to distinguish between the various cultures and settlements other than to note differences in dialect.

We have thus scant record of the revolt of the Mithrim. The list of demands finally presented to Thingol is altogether lost, as no Elves witness to its composition remain on these shores. Still, the fragment above demonstrates that not only were the Sindar literate, but also that writing had become essential to Sindarin thought.

We owe an enormous debt to Pengolodh, yet his histories concern themselves primarily with the deeds of the Noldor. In Eryn Lasgalen and Mithlond, there is still living memory of the Age of Starlight, but the time of the Elves is ending, and soon, we will remain only as distant voices in dusty tomes at the Library of Gondor. Let us be certain that such tomes present a complete story.

\- Erestor, Chief Archivist at the Library of Imladris

**Author's Note:**

> In The Peoples of Middle-earth, 'The Problem of Ros', Tolkien wrote:  
> He [Thingol] had small love for the Northern Sindar who had in regions near Angband come under the dominion of Morgoth, and were accused of sometimes entering his service and providing him with spies. (p 372)  
> This, of course, is nonsense - no Elf ever willingly or knowingly served Morgoth or Sauron. Tolkien stated elsewhere that all the Sindar acknowledged Thingol as King, but considering that he did little to aid the Mithrim against Morgoth and was happy to give their land to the Noldor, the idea that they were 'unfriends' seems a bit more likely.
> 
> Secondly, bees. Since trees definitely existed prior to the Sun, we must assume that some sort of photosynthesis was possible with starlight. This isn't entirely crazy in Tolkien's universe, since the stars were the same stuff as Telperion, which later became the Moon, and in the real world, 'moonlight' is actually reflected sunlight. We'll just theorise that pre-Sun plants were just super-efficient photosynthesisers. So, there are bees to pollinate the plants in my pre-Sun headcanon.


End file.
